International conference gives new impetus for a global carbon market

A global carbon market requires stronger global cooperation, stressed the Federal Environment Minister Peter Altmaier at the opening of the international conference "Towards a Global Carbon Market", in front of 200 participants. adelphi had organized the event on behalf of BMU.

The two-day conference gave considerable new impetus to the process of creating a global carbon market. The high-ranking speakers present included the Australian Minister for Climate Change Greg Combet, his British counterpart Edward Davey, the South Korean Vice-Minister for the Environment Jeong Yeon-man, and Jos Delbeke, Director General for Climate Action at the European Commission. Each of the representatives shared the opinion of the German Federal Environment Minister that emissions trading is the appropriate instrument for aligning climate protection with the requirements of economic development. This became particularly clear during a panel discussion with representatives from international institutions, emerging economies and from Japan, New Zealand and the USA, which looked at experiences and future prospects of existing and planned emissions trading systems.

The documentation of the conference will soon be available. Check out www.ets-conference.org.

The speakers believe bilateral cooperation to be an important pillar for a possible global carbon market. Such collaboration would allow stakeholders to exchange experiences and learn from the development of new systems. A second pillar would be greater multilateral cooperation. According to Minister Altmaier, this could be provided by expanding the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP) into a global agency for emissions trading, similar to IRENA in the area of renewable energy. adelphi has led the IACP Secretariat for five years on behalf of the BMU.